Why is the mass so long

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tgwall -
I honestly thought this was a joke when I first started reading your opening post. I had to read it twice to realize that you really are totally serious.

So you really can’t sit still to be with the Creator of the Universe, OUR GOD, for an hour without being impatient?

That is so very sad on so many levels.

Our noon Mass on Sunday is about an hour and a half every Sunday when you include rosary, Benediction, and prayers afterward. And we love every bit of it.

I will keep you in my prayers that you figure out what it is that you find to be more important than sitting still for an hour to just BE with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. You really do need to seriously figure this out.

~Liza
 
There was a teacher at the local high school that took pride in being a “tough” teacher. But we found out that it is one thing to be tough and fair and another thing to be tough and not fair. He was the latter.

It is possible that there could be certain factors in which a longer Mass does not necessarily make it a better Mass. It can be quite a painful thing to tollerate a lengthy Mass in which the celebrant loves to hear the sound of his own voice and says and does many things that are not proper for the celebration of the Mass thereby lengthening the Mass unnecessarily.
 
zab said:
It is possible that there could be certain factors in which a longer Mass does not necessarily make it a better Mass. It can be quite a painful thing to tollerate a lengthy Mass in which the celebrant loves to hear the sound of his own voice and says and does many things that are not proper for the celebration of the Mass thereby lengthening the Mass unnecessarily.
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I agree. When it becomes all about us, it can get too long real fast. It has to be about God, and if we feel we haven’t given Him His proper due, then it behooves us to stay longer and at least visit the Blessed Sacrament.
 
yeah, look at all he has done for you, atleast you could sit for a hour and chat with him.
 
benedictgal said:
Reading the OP saddened and disheartened me a great deal. Part of the problem, I believe, is poor catechesis and an impoverished understanding of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is not necessarily directed at the OP, but, it it is a symptom of a greater problem that is permeating throughout the Church.

We have collectively forgotten why we assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Mass is not about us, it’s about God. Remember that there are two great commandments, loving God and loving our neighbor. God comes first. Loving God means giving Him what is rightfully due to Him, our hearts raised in prayerful worship. If we mess up the first commandment, then all of the others tend to fall apart.

What we also tend to forget is that millions of people have died just for the sake of assisting at Mass. The 400 North African martyrs professed that they could not live without Sunday. Have we forgotten just how precious the Hol Sacrifice of the Mass is?

Sadly, there are things that have marred this most august liturgy. Abuses have crept in that tend to damage the integrity of the Mass. This is sad. The Mass is not our own personal property that we can treat as we pleas, nor should it be regarded as some free form exercise in creativity. When these happen, they harm the Mass and confuse the faithful.

Maybe if the OP were to read up on the Mass that would help. The Mass is the point where the veil between heaven and earth and time and space is lifted. We are in the very presence of the Divine Majesty of the Triune God. It is the moment where the entire Church, the Church Triumphant (saints in heaven), the Church Militant (we, ourselves) and the Church Suffering (the souls in purgatory) come together to worship God. It is the moment when we are just as present at Calvary as were the Blessed Mother and Sts. John and Mary Magdalene. If that does not impact us and we spend more time looking at the clock, then, we have lost it.

Now, if this were a Spurs basketball game, would you think that an overtime game would be wasting your time? If you were at a concert where your favorite band was performing and folks were asking for an encore, would you think that would be a waste of your time?
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Well, yes, but making the Mass “about us” instead of about God can either shorten the ritual OR lengthen it, depending on the self-centered motive that is the culprit, don’t you agree?

If the culprit is impatience, then that fault will shorten the Mass, or will lead the person to seek the shortest Mass, regardless of quality. I will agree: that is a bad thing. If the culprit is a desire to wallow in a misplaced sense of the dramatic that is more distracting than not, though, a desire to be at the center of attention for as long as possible, or a lack of preparation that results in a rambling homily when a more carefully-prepared one could have said the same thing better in half the time, then the fault will lengthen the Mass. It is no sin to find such faults a waste of one’s time, for they do no service to God.

Yes, you can take a homilist who won’t discipline himself as a penance that you endure out of love of the Lord, that is an admirable way to look at it, and one worthy of imitation, but we still have to admit that such a homilist has made the Mass both longer and worse. The choir can do that, too, as can the lectors. It may not be their fault, they may be doing their best, it is well to endure it patiently…but they have objectively made the Mass worse by what they’ve done to lengthen it.

I have heard homilies that could have gone on an hour without being too long and ones that took five minutes that were too long, because nothing substantial was ever said and the English language was murdered in the process (and by a native speaker…if anything, they seem far worse about not actually making a point than those with English as a second language). Likewise, I have been to very long Masses that were a blessing and very short ones that were a penance. As someone already pointed out, quality and length are not the same thing.

Of course, sometimes the Mass is shortened or lengthened by inconsequential things, like the speed of the priest’s normal conversational rate. That is neither here nor there, and liking it or not is simply personal preference, nothing more or less. And of course we have to be patient with the fact that not everyone has the same gifts. Still, it isn’t always wrong to choose the shorter Mass over the longer one. If the shorter one truly is a good one, that is really OK.
 
I’m sure the Isrealites wanted to know why they wandered for 40 years in the desert and why it took hundreds of years to take the Land. I think the answer is the same, even for us, they needed the time and so do we - maybe for different reasons.
 
I dont think tgwall has been back to read the replies so Im guessing it’s really not as big of an issue for him. More of a little “i” and not a big “I”.
 
tgwall said:
Why is the mass so long?

i found this site when I googled “45 minute mass.” It started roughly 4 years ago when we were attending mass based on our sons’ schedules. After one such mass, my wife said, “you know, next time conor [our older son, now 25] is home, we ought to go to mass here, because at least the homily won’t alienate him.”

I thought about it and decided to start attending that parish because they always had good homilies. Eventually I joined the parish. It was some time after that that I noticed their Sunday masses generally ran 40-45 minutes. I even started running into people I knew from other parishes, who came there because the mass wasn’t “a big production” and was over in 45 minutes.

That’s when my problem started. I realized that the parish, headed by an irish priest, had cut out a lot of stuff that makes the mass longer. (in my previous parishes, masses ran close to an hour.)

Then that priest retired, and sure enough, his replacement started lengthening the mass. I started thinking more about the length of the mass, and it started to bug me that these guys (the priests) were wasting my time by lengthening the mass.

(keep in mind two things: 1) this parish was farther away than the closest parish, and I didn’t mind spending more time driving to and from the new parish; 2) I’m fairly spiritual in that I spend 30-45 minutes in private prayer per day, and in addition say the rosary with my wife the four days of the week she doesn’t work.)

So I started looking for another parish. It’s not easy to find a meaningful 45 minute mass. I just don’t like my time wasted, and I don’t like the fact that it appears that the mass has been lengthened for no other reason than to make it longer. Like longer = better.

I’ve a sneaking suspicion that somewhere along the line, someone said, hey the protestants go to church for two hours (or whatever it is), we better make ours longer.

My wife suggested I give up for lent obsessing about this, and I did. Yesterday it really bugged me, so here I am….i live in south jersey.

I’ve checked out all the parishes nearby, and they all run close to an hour.

Thanks for letting me rant a bit. I’m just wondering if I am alone in the way I think.
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Are you kidding me? I really don’t understand what your problem is but if you somehow manage to make it to heaven don’t be surprised if God says to you " You have been wasting my time so I am only spending 45 minutes with you."

Get right. You say you pray? To whom have you been praying? Why would you consider any time spent in God’s House a waste of time? You are a foolish reprobate ! (Look it up.)

Sorry I wasted my time on you.
 
agp2176 said:
Not window dressing at all. They are there to bring respect and adoration to our Lord. These things are about Him

These things on the other hand are about people. They make us passive in the the Mass – spectators to those places where we as the people are called upon and have the right to participate in praising the Lord.

It ain’t about them … it’s about Him! And therein, difference.

God bless

Tony
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If the children’s (or adult) choirs are singing prayers to God while the people process to receive our Lord at Holy Communion, then I do not consider it window dressing (disclaimer: I’m in the adult choir)—you are not a spectator at this point any more than you are spectator when a cleric gives a homily. As a singer, if I did not believe that what I did contributed to divine worship and prayer or to assisting the faithful in drawing their attention to God, I wouldn’t be in choir.
 
benedictgal said:
Now, if this were a Spurs basketball game, would you think that an overtime game would be wasting your time? If you were at a concert where your favorite band was performing and folks were asking for an encore, would you think that would be a waste of your time?
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Lol, funny you should mention sports. Red Sox-Yankees game routinely get criticized for their games taking too long…
 
JugglingReferee said:
The Mass is as long as it takes.
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That reminds me of a line I like to use. Every now and then I run a little late due to various other commitments and a parishioner once said to me, “Father, why were you late for Mass today?” To which I responded, “I’m never late for Mass. I’m ALWAYS there for the beginning!”
 
angelic06 said:
If the children’s (or adult) choirs are singing prayers to God while the people process to receive our Lord at Holy Communion, then I do not consider it window dressing (disclaimer: I’m in the adult choir)—you are not a spectator at this point any more than you are spectator when a cleric gives a homily. As a singer, if I did not believe that what I did contributed to divine worship and prayer or to assisting the faithful in drawing their attention to God, I wouldn’t be in choir.
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I humbly disagree . and disclaimer here: I am a cantor. At those appointed times when the congregation is to participate, if their participation is pre-empted because a music director felt it more important to entertain than provide the opportunity for participation by all, then it is window dressing. As cantor, I am particularly sensitive to making sure that what I do in leading the people in music is truly that – a chance for all to join in. Its not my show. I am their servant to lead them.

The time for participation by the congregation is not when the celebrant delivers his homily, therefore the role of attentive spectator is what is expected.

God bless

Tony
 
camerong said:
If you prefer quick masses, find a 6 am one during the week. One near my house is often around 15 minutes. Appreciate the brevity and fill yourself with Christ’s grace.
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This is too bizarre! :confused:

Even the Morning Prayer service in the Episcopal Church (which does not include Holy Communion) takes longer than 15 minutes. Seems to me something is missing. 🤷
 
Poco said:
This is too bizarre! :confused:

Even the Morning Prayer service in the Episcopal Church (which does not include Holy Communion) takes longer than 15 minutes. Seems to me something is missing. 🤷
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15 minutes daily Masses are fairly common.
 
NewEnglandPries said:
15 minutes daily Masses are fairly common.
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Maybe in New England, but here in upstate NY, even the earliest Mass of the day, 6:30am at the Cathedral takes 25 minutes, minimum. I attend daily Mass at least 3-4 times a week (at different times and at different parishes, depending on my schedule) and have never been to one that lasts any less.🤷

Out of curiosity, do the 15 minute Masses have a homily?
 
NewEnglandPries said:
im in favor for long homilies actually ~ note that when we attend mass we are receiving the word of God. if there is more to offer that week, why not?
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True, but when the homilist is good, I can happily listen to a very long homily. It does take a homilist who organizes his thoughts, well, though. It is really frustrating to lose track of all the points made, because the organization wasn’t there. (Nobody has a clipboard and pencil, dear Fathers and Deacons! You have to lay the foundation well, if it is going to be a long one.)

Again, though, just the fact that one is giving a homily or presiding at Mass doesn’t give one carte blanche to ramble or dawdle around without any purpose. Being deliberate, taking time for solemnity, fine. Use the time well, take two hours, be my guest. But please, don’t squander time and tell people they lack piety and generosity of heart when they lose their patience. It is you they don’t have all day for, not the Lord. Five minutes of babbling without saying anything substantial or meaningful, let alone instructive or edifying, is five minutes too long, and I don’t care if Mass only takes 20 minutes. Every moment at Mass should be, as far as possible, filled with excellence and treated like gold.

(I didn’t mean you personally, Father!!)
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